


Growth isn't always linear

by SapphicSpecter



Series: Ghost!Jake AU [2]
Category: MiCoVerse (Webcomic)
Genre: Arson, BUT IN LIKE A GOOD WAY, Beginning of redemption arc, Child Neglect, Donna doesn't have rights, Gen, Implied animal abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Like all of these are either done by Donna or implied through Donna, ghost!jake au, takes place after "What if I promised you a happy ending?"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-31 21:34:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21152546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphicSpecter/pseuds/SapphicSpecter
Summary: Jake didn’t have problems. He didn’t know what problems were. Donna hated Jake, sure, but… it wasn't the death that haunted Aaron.What has kept him up since then was how loved Jake was.





	Growth isn't always linear

**Author's Note:**

> So, this one is darker than its predecessor. It is the beginning of a redemption arc for Aaron, who has... issues. This isn't meant to excuse anything he's done. 
> 
> But you've got to start somewhere, right? Even if it's from the bottom.

Aaron killed everything he touched. It’d been that way as long as he could remember.

The first thing that comes to mind is the Walkman. Aaron wanted to play with it so bad—Jake loved that stupid thing so much. So Aaron cried and cried until Donna told Jake to hand it over. When Jake refused, Donna snatched it from Jake’s hands and smashed it with a hammer.

“Then no one can have it.”

She dropped the pieces back in Jake’s hands. Jake ended up fixing it over time. It was held together with tape and whirled pathetically, bit it worked. For what it counted, Jake didn’t give up.

The second was an accident. Jake won a goldfish at the county fair, which his class attended on a field trip. He snuck it inside and began to set up the tank in his room. Aaron snuck in after him (as Donna took off all the locks in the house a long, long time ago). Jake froze and turned his head slightly, staring wide-eyed at his little brother in horror.

“Don’t tell Mom.”

That wasn’t something that even came to mind with Aaron. He instead ran up to the plastic tank, reaching for it with grubby fingers. Jake immediately held his hands out to block his little brother from reaching the tiny fish.

“No! No, don’t touch him. I’ve got to go get food and real supplies,” Jake looked back up to the door. “Just… I’ll be right back. Don’t tell Mom, and maybe you can help me name him or something. Just don’t tell Mom, and please don’t touch him.”

Aaron watched with a small grin as Jake dug up his wallet from its hiding place and walked out the door. Aaron looked at the fish tank, and back at the door. He wouldn’t TOUCH it, but Jake didn’t say anything about just watching the fish. So Aaron walked to the kitchen, grabbed some chips and walked back to Jake’s room. Aaron sat over the tank, peering in the top as he shoved his face with chips.

One fell in the tank and Aaron jumped. He looked over his shoulder, making sure Jake wasn’t back yet. Once satisfied Jake was still some ways off, Aaron shoved his hand in the tank to try and grab it. He didn’t mean to knock it over. Aaron tried to fix the situation but it was too late.

When Jake came home, he didn’t even seem surprised. Just crestfallen. Jake shoved the supplies under his bed and instead picked up the tank, looking sadly at the floating fish.  
Aaron felt his face heat in shame. And, as always, shame turned to anger.

“Mom wouldn’t have let you have it anyway!” Aaron cried before storming out of the room.

The third—and most damning—was Aaron’s brother himself.

Aaron had anger and aggression problems.

His elementary school teacher told Donna so in an impromptu parent-teacher conference.

“He doesn’t get along with the other kids. He keeps to himself at recess and tends to…use his hands instead of his words.” The teacher seemed sheepish, shrinking under Donna’s glare. “I talked to some other teachers found some highly-recommended therapists—”

“Are you saying I raised my son bad?”

Aaron looked up to see Donna stand up. She began screaming at the teacher and grabbed Aaron so tight that it left imprints from Donna’s nails. In the end, Donna had Aaron switch classes entirely. He remembers his mother making the teacher cry.

Aaron might not have had friends, but he had his brother. And Aaron had his anger and rage which only got worse as Aaron got older. Jake…got the brunt of that. More times than Aaron could count, he took out his aggression on his older brother, beating him red, black and blue. Donna simply turned away.

Well, she turned away until Jake finally left. And Aaron’s life turned into a living hell. Years turned into a decade. Aaron grew up and nothing changed. Nothing ever changed.

He ended up finding where Jake ended up, years and years later. On a cold day, Aaron showed up on the doorstep. Luckily enough, Jake himself opened the door. Aaron couldn’t hide his smile, anticipation, and rage making his heart race with glee.

“Miss me, big brother?”

—

The car ride after Donna bailed him out was completely silent. Aaron felt sick, sitting in the backseat. Donna’s face was completely deadpan. Aaron forced himself to speak, cringing at the fact he sounded like a little kid.

“Mom? What’s going to happen to Jake?”

No response. Aaron swallowed, waiting a few minutes before trying again.

“Do you know what happened to him?”

No response. Donna didn’t even turn around.

“Are we- are we going to the funeral?”

With that, Donna slammed on the breaks, pulling the car over, swearing profusely.

“Why would we go to the funeral, Aaron? You killed him. You don’t belong there.” She looked up into the rearview mirror, watching Aaron curl in on himself. Donna sighed before speaking again. “Listen, it was bound to happen eventually. I’m just surprised it didn’t happen sooner.”

Aaron turned his head to look out the window, tears beading up. Donna rolled her eyes.

“Took him long enough anyway.”

—

Donna never fixed a problem in her life. Whenever she faced something she didn’t like, she got rid of it and replaced it. She never had anything beyond plastic plants after she overwatered one when Aaron was little.

When Jake’s dad walked away, Donna got a new boyfriend.

When Jake didn’t turn out the way Donna wanted, she had Aaron.

When Jake died, Donna replaced him with a cat three months later. She returned home from work the next day holding a box.

“One of my co-workers found this cat eating trash outside their apartment.”

Donna dropped a box into Aaron’s lap, causing Aaron to tense up. He opened it carefully. A big eye simply glanced up at Aaron lazily in turn. Half of its long fur was matted down, especially around the stomach. It was missing an eye and an ear, though it was long-since healed over.

“Got you this so you quit your moping.” She waved her hand dismissively. “It’s old, so no one will notice if it…disappears, anyway.”

Aaron cringed, looking back down at the cat. It simply leaped off of the box, stretching. He opened his mouth to speak but Donna interrupted.

“I’m out of town for work this week.” Donna continued. “Since you don’t, you know, have a job, I left a fifty on the counter for food or… whatever cats need.”

She picked up her duffel bag, looking over her shoulder at her surviving son.

“I’m taking the car. There better not be anything out of place when I get back, or I swear to God…”

And without a goodbye, she left.

—

Aaron sat on the floor next to his bed, eyeing the cat. He raised his hand to pet the cat, which in turn bit him.

“Ow! What the fu- ugh, you stupid little rat.” Aaron knocked the feline off his bed. It glared at him before stretching again as if it knew that was going to happen.

Aaron glared back, watching as it left the room.

And Aaron was alone again.

He stood up, looking around his room. It was messy but devoid of any decorations. He never really had… any interests. His room reflected that. There was a college poster on the wall for some time, but after he dropped out, he ripped it down. The only picture remaining…

A shattered frame held a family photo. It was old—so old that it was taken by Aaron’s father. Jake was holding a screaming newborn Aaron as Donna was mid-lecture on how to hold the infant correctly. It was the only picture of Jake that remained hung up in the house.

Aaron swallowed a lump in his throat. Jake was gone, and it was his fault. Of course, it was. He shoved his hands in his pockets, walking to the end of the hall to the long-since sealed door.

Donna finally re-installed the lock after Jake moved out. Well, not the correct one. Instead, a padlock stopped any entry to Jake’s room. What Donna didn’t know was that Aaron knew where the lock was. He dug into the soil of one of her plastic plants, providing an unused silver key.

With one swift move, Aaron unlocked his older brother’s door. He took a deep breath before pushing it open.

—

The room, just like the life he left behind, was just like how Jake left it. Music sheets were spread across the desk. The Walkman was there, too, as a paperweight of sorts. Without thinking much into it, Aaron shoved it in his pocket. A layer of dust covered everything.

Aaron looked at the music posters that lined the walls, faded with time. He walked around the room, carefully not touching anything—until he tripped on something. He fell on the bed, a layer of dust shooting up. He sneezed a few times, rubbing his eyes until he decided to check what he tripped on.

It was a shirt.

Not just any shirt, but an early Problem Sons shirt. It was a plain white t-shirt with the band name written poorly in marker. Aaron swallowed a lump in his throat.

Problem Sons, huh?

Jake didn’t have problems. He didn’t know what problems were. Donna hated Jake, sure, but… it wasn't the death that haunted Aaron. What has kept him up since then was how loved Jake was. The kid was screaming, calling Jake ‘dad.’ Jake’s roommate—Dan, he thought—seemed to fall apart inside as soon as he saw Jake’s body. He only kept it (somewhat) together for the kid. Aaron was sure about that.

Jake was loved. Aaron didn’t know what that felt like.

So he snapped. He dug his fingers in the shirt, ripping it apart; the room felt like it was closing in. It was too much. Aaron stormed out of the room, returning with a bat. Jake might have been gone. But his presence wasn’t, and it had the nerve to mock Aaron.

He ripped the room apart, leaving no part intact. Dust and plaster hade the air hazy. Aaron screamed and cried until his throat was raw. His cries turned to wheezes as he slumped to the floor, curling into his knees.

Aaron really did it, huh. Jake was dead and it was his fault. He might have hated Jake, but he didn’t want this. He never wanted this—any of this. Aaron was unsure how long he spent on the floor of his older brother’s (now destroyed) room.

Something soft nudged his shoulder.

Aaron turned his head, wiping snot and tears to see the cat nuzzling him. It came up and licked the scruff of Aaron’s face. Aaron laughed a little and sat up. The cat took a cautionary step back, but Aaron scooped it up before it could get much further. After a moment of hesitation, the cat sunk into Aaron’s arms, purring loudly.

Aaron tensed and looked down at the cat in surprise.

“You’re like me, aren’t you?” He asked quietly. He lifted one of his own hands, the cat sniffing it cautiously before biting it again, this time much gentler. It—no, she. It was a girl cat, Aaron knew that much—was a little shit. Aaron laughed again before setting her down.

He knew what he had to do.

—

Within hours, the house was completely ablaze.

Aaron heard the sirens of firetrucks in the distance but didn’t want to take his eyes off of his handiwork just yet. Donna would be mad of course. There was no coming back from this. Besides, Aaron didn’t _want_ to come back from this.

The house- his sanctuary and his prison- would be gone in a matter of minutes.

aron held the cat tighter, which squirmed slightly in his grasp to get more comfortable. He swallowed, unsure to laugh or cry. Instead, he nudged the cat with his face. The sirens were getting louder.

“Let’s find somewhere and finally start our lives. What do you say… Tom?”

The cat didn’t recognize her new name, but she seemed ready to go along with whatever. Besides, they had the rest of their lives to get used to their new normal.

\---

“Huh.” Dan Fuller set down the newspaper, pushing his plate of waffles out of the way. “Uh, Jake?”

“Hmm?” Jake asked as he took a sip of coffee. It immediately phased through him, splashing it on the chair and onto the floor. “Oh dammit.”

“Dammit!” Milo repeated with glee, smooshing his eggs with his hands.

Jake cringed. “No, no! Sorry. Milo—don’t say that. That’s a bad word. Your dad just made a mess.”

As Jake got up to get some paper towels (and a toddler fork for Milo), Dan cleared his throat.

“Um, did… you know your mother’s house burned down?”

Jake paused for a moment. His whole form shuddered for a second- just a second- glitching slightly. “Huh.”

“’Huh?’” Dan repeated.

“Was…” Jake cleared his throat, unsure what to say. “Was anyone hurt?”

“No, but the house is beyond repair. They’re bulldozing the lot next week.” Dan said, watching Jake closely as he began to clean up the coffee. “Are you…okay?”

Jake seemed deep in thought but shook his head to clear whatever kept him so distracted.

“What? Oh, yeah. Good riddance, right?” Jake forced a dry laugh. He finished cleaning up the coffee and threw away the paper towels.

“Do you… want to talk about it?” Dan asked hesitantly.

“Not really. How about we try this drinking thing again?” Jake smiled, turning his head so Dan could meet the corner of his eye. Dan chuckled slightly.

“Okay, but this time make sure you only have de-caff.”


End file.
